Makenzie Brown

NUTR 331
Recipe Project
April 2, 2015
Part I) Introduction and Purpose
The goal of this recipe project was to modify the ingredients in a well-liked, high
calorie banana bread in order to yield a lower-calorie, more nutritious banana bread. In
addition to decreasing overall calories, the modifications revealed that a healthier
alternative does not have to result in a lack of flavor. If proper thought is applied to
making modifications, a healthier food can maintain optimal taste. In the case of the
banana bread, the modified product focused on the following changes: reduce sugar by 13
g per serving, decrease saturated fat by at least 30%, and increase fiber content by 33%.
In order to cut down on saturated fat but still maintain a rich flavor, butter was replaced
with olive oil and only half of the chocolate chips called for were used. To decrease
sugar, two extra bananas replaced a cup of granulated sugar and a cup of raisins was
added to replace the missing chocolate chips. By substituting white flour with a mixture
of coconut and whole-wheat flour, the recipe increased the fiber content per serving by
almost 33%
Overall, this banana bread recipe was not meant to be a health food, but rather as
a healthier version of a treat. The recipe demonstrates how unhealthy indulgences can be
made healthier through substitutions that are both nutrient dense and tasty.

Part II) Methods and Procedures

The original and modified recipes are listed below:
Original Recipe: Orange-Spiced Chocolate Chip
Banana Bread Total Servings: 16

Modified Recipe: Orange-Spiced Chocolate Chip

Banana Bread Total Servings: 16

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups (160g) Flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1-teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg
1 cup (200g) Sugar
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted Butter, softened
2 tablespoons freshly grated Orange Zest
4 medium ripe Bananas (@1 1/2 cups when
mashed)
2 Eggs, beaten
1 cup (175g/6.17 oz.) Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:
1-cup whole-wheat flour
cup chocolate
chips
cup coconut flour
cup milk
cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1-teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated Nutmeg
cup + 2 tbsp. olive oil
6 medium ripe Bananas
2 Eggs, beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a
4.5"x8.5" loaf pan. Line the bottom of the loaf
pan with parchment or wax paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda,
cinnamon and nutmeg for about 20 seconds or
until well blended. Set aside.
3. In a mixer, cream together sugar, butter and
orange zest until light and fluffy. Add bananas
and mash with potato masher until no large
banana pieces remain. Stir in eggs until
combined.
4. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture until
just combined. Be careful not to over mix. Stir in
the chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pans. Bake
for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick
inserted into center comes out clean (chocolate
on the toothpick doesn't count)
6. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 4.5"x8.5"
loaf pan. Line the bottom of the loaf pan with
parchment or wax paper.
2. Whisk together the flours, salt, baking soda,
cinnamon and nutmeg for about 20 seconds or until
well blended. Set aside.
3. Put olive oil in mixing bowl. Add bananas and mash
with potato masher until no large banana pieces
remain. Stir in eggs and milk until combined.
4. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture until just
combined. Be careful not to over mix. Stir in the
chocolate chips and raisins.
5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 45
minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into
center comes out clean (chocolate on the toothpick
doesn't count) The house should be filled with the scent
of fresh banana bread.
6. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing the loaf
from the pan. Loosen the edges, then pop loose the
bottom.

On evaluation day, I started by setting up the kitchen with all the

cooking tools that I needed. I set up the following array of
tools/supplies: two 4.5 * 8.5 loaf pans, large mixing bowl, medium mixing bowl,
whisk, measuring spoons and measuring cups, liquid measuring cup, potato masher,
wooden mixing spoon, and a knife. I also preheated the oven to 350 F. I

baked both the modified and unmodified loaves, starting with the
unmodified first. On recipe testing day, both loaves took longer then
one hour to cook, however, the oven shut off during this time so I was
not sure whether the extended baking time was due to the loafs
density or because of the oven being shut off. However, on the actual
evaluation day, both the modified and unmodified loafs still took longer
than an hour to bake even though the oven stayed on. The unmodified
loaf took an hour and 30 minutes and the modified took two hours to
bake. On the recipe testing day, I noticed that the citrus flavor from
the orange zest conflicted with the raisins in the modified banana
bread and therefore eliminated the zest from the recipe. I also noticed
that the modified banana bread took longer to cook and therefore
came in earlier on evaluation day to bake. Despite coming in thirty
minutes earlier, the modified banana bread still took longer then
expected to bake.
In order to evaluate the quality of the banana bread, a list of
guidelines were made. A good quality banana bread should have the
following qualities: golden brown outer crust, well detected banana
flavor, firm outer crust, slightly chewy inner crumb, high/even volume,
moist inner crumb. On evaluation day, taste testers were asked to rate
the quality of the unmodified banana bread based on these guidelines.
The following evaluation form was handed to each taste tester:

A good quality banana bread has the following

qualities:
Golden brown outer crust
Well detected banana flavor
Firm outer crust
Slightly chewy inner crumb
High, even volume
Moist inner crumb
Score Card:
Sample tested: Unmodified Banana Bread
1. What is the color?
Almost
White
____________________________________________________________________
Very Dark
1
2
3
4
5
2. How intense is the banana flavor?
Barely
detected
_________________________________________________________________
Extreme
1
2
3
4
5
3. How crunchy is the outer crust?
Soft
_________________________________________________________________ Brittle
1
2
3
4
5
4. How soft is the inner crumb?
Melts
in
Mouth
________________________________________________________________ Hard,
Brittle
1
2
3
4
5
5. How is the volume of the loaf?
4

Flat,
uneven
_________________________________________________________________ High,
rounded
1
2
3
4
5
6. How moist is the loaf?
Dry___________________________________________________________
___ Extremely moist
1
2
3
4
5
7. How satisfied do you feel?
Disappointed
___________________________________________________________________
Liked a lot
1
2
3
4
5
Part III) Nutrient Analysis of Unmodified and Modified Recipe:
Nutrients (per serving)

Modified Banana Bread

Unmodified Banana Bread

Calories

158 kcal

219 kcal

Carbohydrate

19 g

10 g

Fiber

3g

2g

Sugar

9g

22 g

Saturated Fat

2g

6g

Fat

10 g

7g

Protein

3g

3g

Cholesterol

24 mg

38 mg

Sodium

16 mg

83 mg

Part IV) Cost of Original and Modified Recipe:

Original Bread:

Cost

Modified Bread:

Cost

White Flour

$0.19

Coconut and Whole

Wheat flour

$1.14

Butter

$0.95

Olive oil

$0.36

Chocolate chips

$1.65

Raisins and Bananas

$1.04

tsp Sea Salt

$0.004

tsp Sea Salt

$0.004

1 tsp Cinnamon

$0.10

1 tsp Cinnamon

$0.10

tsp nutmeg

$0.004

tsp nutmeg

$0.004

2 eggs

$0.26

2 eggs

$0.26

4 bananas

$1.40

6 bananas

$2.10

1 tsp baking soda

$0.01

1 tsp baking soda

$0.01

2 oranges

$1.98

--------------

-------------

Total Cost:

$6.55

Total Cost:

$5.02

Part V) Results:
As mentioned before, both loafs took longer to bake then expected. As a result,
the modified loaf was not ready in time to be taste tested by the assigned tasters so the
original banana bread was evaluated instead. However, those who were present to taste
the modified bread agreed that the modified loaf had more flavor and moisture. Some
even preferred the modified loaf over the original. The modified loaf took twice as long
to bake because of the two extra bananas and cup of milk. Both additions added a
significant amount of water, thus increasing the baking time needed to fully cook the

bread.
In terms of how taste testers evaluated the original bread, the results were
pleasing. Each tester filled out the evaluation form found above based on a scale that
rated the intensity of each characteristic. The original banana bread was rated as moist
and everyone rated their satisfaction as a four or above on a scale of 1 to 5. The banana
flavor was rated as a three or four, meaning that the intensity was well-detected but not
overwhelming. Both the volume and color of the loaf met the guidelines of a good quality
bread as they were given high ratings (4 on a five point scale). Unfortunately, test testers
were not able to rate the quality of the modified banana bread because it was not fully
baked in time. However, the modified bread was still liked by the majority of tasters with
the exception of some who commented on too strong of a banana flavor.
In terms of meeting nutrient goals, the modified banana bread met the
requirements of increasing fiber by 33%, decreasing sugar by 13 g, and reducing
saturated fat by 33%. The taste of the modified bread still met my goal of maintaining
optimal flavor despite using healthier ingredients. The only issue was that these
modifications doubled the baking time. To fix this issue, I would omit adding any milk to
the bread to cut down on moisture and thus decrease baking time. The milk seemed
unnecessary since the extra two bananas added enough water to counteract the absorption
of the coconut flour.